It's an interesting idea to entertain, if outlandish. See http://bigthink.com/strange-maps/the-city-states-of-europe http://bigthink.com/strange-maps/the-city-s

It's an interesting idea to entertain, if outlandish. See http://bigthink.com/strange-maps/the-city-states-of-europe http://bigthink.com/strange-maps/the-city-states-of-europe (HN discussion at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11192948 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11192948): > "The 21st century will not be dominated by America or China, Brazil or India, but by the city," writes Parag Khanna (1). The author of several books on global strategy, Khanna argues that (some) cities, as islands of good governance in an increasingly unstable world, will become the cornerstone of a new world order. > That new world order won't be a "global village" of nation states, for globalisation is corroding national sovereignty. Rather, it will be a loose network of semi-independent city states, perhaps resembling the Hanseatic League and other medieval trading alliances.